Looking back at Star Wars: The Force Awakens after Carrie Fisher’s death is bittersweet, especially when you see her interact albeit briefly with her daughter, Billie Lourd. The Scream Queens alum made her acting debut in J.J. Abrams’ movie as Lieutenant Kaydel Ko Connix, and wore her hair in two buns in what seemed like a nod to her mother’s Star Wars ’do. (And that’s actually rather poetic, since A New Hope was only the second feature film Fisher starred in.) But Lourd says she originally read for a different role at the behest of the director, who is now set to make his return to the franchise with Episode IX.
While Lourd was promoting the new season of American Horror Story on The Ellen Show, she told DeGeneres that Abrams asked her to audition for Rey; apparently, he was having trouble casting the role. But Daisy Ridley eventually landed the role, and Lourd went on to play a member of the Resistance. The AHS: Cult actress is reprising her role as Connix in The Last Jedi, which is due out on December 15.